Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
Five senators told Interior and USDA the $6 billion FY2026 fire suppression budget was nearly spent by Sept. 2, citing staffing gaps and firefighter deaths.
CACOOR
In 2025, fire departments serving Buena Vista responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 40% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
280 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $144K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 69 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +7.2% | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 59 | — | |
| 2025 | 78 | +32.2% |
* Well below Buena Vista's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Buena Vista departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 16 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 6 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 11.7% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Buena Vista mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 10 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 16.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Buena Vista departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Buena Vista sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 208,271 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137,760 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 16,562 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,023 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,959 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,600 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 4,000 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,218 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,423 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 1,152 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 1,115 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 38.6 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Buena Vista. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Buena Vista.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.